Mazda Motor Corporation

Masashi Oda

Toshihide Koyama

Takeshi Edahiro

Seita Kanai

Fumitaka Andou

Hiroyoshi Kumada

Yoshihiro Sato

Kazunori Kawamura

Masahito Watanabe

In a multi-link rear suspension (A) in which a wheel support () is connected to a vehicle body through five links () and vehicle body side ends of the links are provided with rubber bushes (), respectively, the lower end of a damping device () formed by coaxially arranging a coil spring () and a damper () is pivoted to a portion of the wheel support () located toward the inside of the vehicle body so that the vertical reaction force of the damping device () produces a moment Mn toward negative camber on a rear wheel (). The moment Mn is set to be always larger than a moment Mp toward positive camber produced by a side force on the outside rear wheel () during vehicle cornering until limit maneuvering conditions of the outside rear wheel due to the side force are reached. The damping device () is disposed with respect to a suppositive king pin axle K so that the vertical reaction force thereof produces a moment toward toe-in on the rear wheel (). In this manner, the multi-link suspension provides a sharp driving feeling applicable even for a sports car while maintaining a good ride through the involvement of the rubber bushes ().

Automotive rear suspension system

A suspension system is provided with a suspension cross member for rear wheels, a suspension member supported on the suspension cross member , elastic mounts to for mounting the suspension cross member on the vehicle body, the elastic mounting means to being provided at three positions along forward and backward directions in such a manner as to form a triangle when the vehicle body is viewed sideways. Thus, a change in wheel alignment can be effectively suppressed without reducing a vehicle's comfort to ride.

Vehicle suspension device

A rear suspension apparatus for an automotive vehicle includes a rear wheel support the front and rear ends of which are resiliently supported on the vehicle chassis. The elastic characteristic of the resilient support is such that the front end of the wheel support readily deflects from the outward to the inward side of the vehicle chassis. The resilient support system resiliently supporting the rear end of the wheel support is set in such a manner that the rear end of the wheel support will readily deflect from the inward to the outward side of the vehicle chassis.

Rear suspension apparatus for automotive vehicles

Growing community of inventors

Hiroshima, Japan

Masashi Oda